Glowdeck is the smartphone dock that does it all

It's a box. What tricks does it do? This is the rather wonderful Glowdeck – a Bluetooth dock with Qi wireless charging built in.

Sounds cool. The sound is probably the least of the Glowdeck's abilities, actually. You get 2 5W speakers and a Class D amplifier – which won't blow you away like a full Hi-fi system, but it's plenty for a bedroom or office setup.

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Glowdeck

Glowdeck

Glowdeck

So what's special about it, then? Its clever wireless charging tech. The charging area makes up a full third of the Glowdeck's top surface, and if your phone's connected to the dock over Bluetooth 4.0, it'll alert the Glowdeck to stop charging when your battery reaches 100 per cent, topping it off if it drops below full charge. That means your battery life should be extended, since the dock isn't continuously transmitting power to it. It also sports a pair of USB ports, for those who aren't blessed with Qi charging smarts.

Oh, and it glows.

It… glows. Yes. Like a Max Power reader's car. There's a multicoloured LED light array underneath that can be set to flash coloured lights to flag up notifications, or sync up with your music for your very own light show.

Glowdeck

Glowdeck

Notifications?The Glowdeck features Streams, a notifications platform that updates over Wi-Fi, flagging up info from your social media apps, plus incoming calls, mail and weather info. They're displayed on the dock's 2.2in screen, while its LED array lights up to alert you to new notifications. You can customise Streams using the Glowdeck app, which lets you tweak the light settings for notifications and add new streams – you can also enable privacy settings so that it will only flash up notifications when your phone is nearby.

So, how much is it? Glowdeck's currently touting for funds on Kickstarter, where it's blasted through its US$30,000 goal. With 20 days on the clock, it's raised US$100,000. Pledges for a Glowdeck Beta – which gets you access to the online beta portal – start at US$190 (£113). It's available in black acrylic, cherry, maple and walnut finishes, with delivery expected in August.